5 champs crowned at East MLK

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Elite Squad Underclass Prime ran through the Underclass MLK East Championship, as evidenced by their run differential of 50-5, as they defeated Panama Mutiny by a score of 6-1 to clinch the championship title.

The tone was set early on by Timmy Manning as he was lights out during the championship game. Manning mixed his fastball and sharp curveball to keep the hitters guessing and racked up a lot of swings-and-misses to finish with a final line of five innings of one-run ball while striking out an absurd 12 batters.

The Elite Squad offense jumped on the opposing starter early on to rack up four runs in a big first inning. Three hitters had multiple hits on the day and it started out with the spark plug of a leadoff hitter that was Enrique Bradfield. Elite Squad was circling the bases early and often and thanks to a complete team effort they were able to settle into cruise control fairly easily.

The MVP of the tournament was Enrique Bradfield. The Vanderbilt hit .571 for the weekend and finished with six stolen bases to showcase his speed. Timmy Manning was named the MV-Pitcher for the event thanks to his impressive display during the championship game.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Despite dropping the first game of the tournament, Tri-State Arsenal Scout Team rattled off four straight wins to capture the championship of the Freshman MLK East Championship with a 5-2 victory over SWFL Baseball Nation.

Starter David White set the tone early on with two scoreless frames and striking out four batters. White worked in the 83-86 mph range throughout his start and showed very good command early on. Arsenal tacked on two runs in the first three innings before SWFL came back.

Three-hole hitter and starting catcher Andrew Sundean turned on a low fastball to rope a two-run double to the pull side and even the score at two runs apiece. That is as close as SWFL would come the rest of the way as Arsenal slowly expanded their lead.

With one run in the top of the fourth and two more in the top of the fifth, Arsenal was able to clinch victory with a final score of 5-2.

The MVP of the tournament was Andrew Sundean for SWFL. Sundean hit .533 over the weekend with three extra base hits and seven RBI. The MV-Pitcher was Drake Donahoe for Arsenal. He had a start earlier in the tournament in which he tossed three shutout innings while striking out six batters.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The third straight run-rule victory in the championship game came as Team Florida 2022 won 8-0 over the Game On Vipers to secure the 14u MLK East Championship. Starting pitcher Ruben Gandarilla turned in a spectacular performance, finishing a no-hitter while striking out four batters and needing only 72 pitches to get through six innings.

Team Florida tallied eleven total hits on the day including three players who turned in multi-hit performances. Jesus Pena had a good day at the plate with one RBI and two doubles. The game was never really in doubt as Gandarilla was in control from the first pitch to the last one and the offense provided plenty of run support to clinch the championship.

The MVP of the tournament was Abriel Delgado of Team Florida. Delgado finished the tournament hitting .583 with seven RBI. Gandarilla finished the tournament as the MV-Pitcher thanks to his dominant performance in the championship game.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Kangaroo Court 13u Miller turned the jets on during the championship round of the 13u MLK East Championship as they downed the Elite Squad Outlaws by a final score of 14-0. Kangaroo Court racked up 15 total hits over the four inning affair and their high-flying offense averaged around 12 runs a game for the tournament.

Five players in the Kangaroo Court lineup totaled multi-hit afternoons including Matthew Rose who had a perfect 3-for-3 day with a team-leading three RBI. Two big innings told the tale for the Kangaroo Court team as they scored five runs in the first inning and seven runs in the top of the fourth.

Christopher Scinta delivered a dazzling performance on the mound. The lefthander worked his fastball up to 80 mph with life and was keeping the Elite Squad hitters of balance the entire time. Scinta attacked hitters and carried a perfect game late into the game before finishing off a four inning, one-hit shutout while striking out six batters.

The MVP of the tournament was Nelson Ramos of Kangaroo Court. The leadoff man for the team batted .538 for the tournament while showing off his speed and registering five stolen bases. Scinta was named the MV-Pitcher for the tournament for his complete game shutout effort in the championship game.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Team Elite South capped off their perfect tournament run with a 12-0 victory over the Gulf Coast Monarchs 11u team to secure the 12u MLK East championship. Team Elite exploded for a nine run outburst in the bottom of the first inning and from there the game was all but over.

Tournament MVP Sevyn Williams had a big day out of the three hole with two RBI to lead the team. The starting pitcher for Team Elite finished the three inning no-hitter by striking out two batters and only allowing one walk.

The MVP for the event was the aforementioned Williams and the MV-Pitcher for the event was Landon Ide of the Gulf Coast Monarchs. Ide tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run baseball and struck out three batters.